The association between carotenoid intake, mental health, and sleep quality among university students

The impact of carotenoid intake on the risk of mental disorders and poor sleep quality is unclear. Thus, we sought to examine the association between carotenoid intake, mental health, and sleep quality among university students.

A total of 368 healthy university students (181 men, 49%), aged 18 to 43 years, volunteered for this study. Dietary intake, physical activity, sleep quality, mental health, and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. A multivariable logistic regression analysis test was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

The mean age of the participants was 22.9 ± 3.9 years and mean BMI was 23.1 ± 3.8 kg/m². The students in the highest quartile of carotenoid intake had a significantly lower risk of poor sleep quality (OR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.40; P  < 0.001) and depression (OR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.59; P = 0.001). In the sex-stratified subgroup analysis, the depression risk was significant for men (OR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.59; P = 0.007), but not for women. Furthermore, we did not observe any specific relationship between carotenoid intake and the risk of anxiety or stress.

It appears that the students with higher carotenoid intake may have a better quality of sleep and lower risk of depression. More longitudinal and in-depth qualitative and quantitative research, with a longer-term follow-up, is needed to support the veracity of our findings.